Anthony Gose

Let the overreaction to Spring Training numbers begin! Gregory Polanco went 3-for-3 with 2 stolen bases in his debut — 115 SB prediction for Polanco! Jason Castro went 2-for-2 with a HR in his first game — 60 HR for Castro! Shelby Miller allowed 2 runs, 3 hits over 2 innings — that is actually pretty on-brand for Shelby Miller. Do not trust Shelby Miller! Health is really what you’re looking for in Spring Training and these guys are failing that test so far…

With the exception of a few dependable options like Jonathan Lucroy, Wilson Ramos, and Buster Posey, the catcher position has (somewhat predictably) been one of the least offensively productive positions in fantasy baseball this season. Yasmani Grandal and Yan Gomes currently have sub-.200 batting averages. Yadier Molina and the recently injured Francisco Cervelli have combined to hit one home run. Arizona backup Chris Herrmann has been a top 10 player at the position thus far this season. I suppose that the term dumpster fire would be a more apt description to characterize the catching landscape. It should come as no surprise, then, that recent Chicago Cubs call-up Willson Contreras (30.5% owned; +27.4% over the past week) is this week’s most added player in ESPN leagues. Considered by many to be the top offensive catching prospect in the game, the 24-year-old rookie slashed .353/.442/.593 in 55 Triple-A games this season and launched a homer in his first MLB at-bat against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday night. His ability to make contact (13.3% K%) while hitting for power (.240 ISO) in the Pacific Coast League this year displayed a rare combination indeed, especially for a catcher. Miguel Montero and David Ross are the incumbents in Chicago, but they shouldn’t provide much resistance for playing time if the rookie hits the ground running. Contreras is certainly worth adding if available. There’s massive upside here at a thin position.

Here are a couple of other interesting adds/drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:

In what seemed like a meaningless spring training game, Dee Gordon bunted and it landed 12 feet from home plate. The announcer said, “Wow, didn’t think that was going to make it out of the batter’s box” And an investigation began. Dee Gordon, unaware, of the investigation continued to use exogenous Testosterone and Clostebol, two performance-enhancing substances. Later in spring, he knocked a single that fell just out of the 2nd baseman’s reach. That ball, it was said, looked like a 47-footer. It went 57 feet. Another shot, sailed just over the pitcher’s mitt, and just before the 2nd base bag. Gordon raced to 1st, and everyone looked around, “That was a half-a-pede.” That’s baseball jargon for a 50-footer. So, Dee Gordon will be out for the next 80 games, call him The Suspended Splinter. Sure glad I bought him in my Tout Wars draft. Super! What the hell was this schmohawk doing? Who thinks they can possibly get away with using in today’s game? It’s just stupid. This is a break for Derek Dietrich; he should be the 2nd baseman on most days. He has 15-homer pop, and is worth a grab in NL-Only leagues. Look forward to seeing Gordon return in August when his 28-footers go 28 feet again, and he’s back to a .215 hitter. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Welcome to the 2016 Razzball Team Previews! You’ll find everything you need to know about each team to get yourself ready for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. And I mean everything, folks. We’ve got line-ups, charts, Slurpees, lube, a guide for beginner electricians, and even a cactus! Well, that’s a lie. That’s what Jay had last year sitting in front of him. This year? Um…a little less lube? Take that as you will. But hey, we’ve got teams to preview and questions to ask, so let’s hop to it. We a very special guest for this post… Rob Rogacki, to provide his take on what the team has in store this season. Now enough rambling, let’s see what 2016 holds for the Detroit Tigers!

Hello again. Which was a fantastic movie! Shelley Long needs a juicy role like Judith Light found with Transparent. Or at least a Juicy Fruit commercial. Sorry, for a second I sounded like a gay Larry King with rainbow suspenders. Which would be totally fine! Take it easy, PC police! As we move into the top 60 outfielders for 2016 fantasy baseball, we still haven’t hit a huge road block of guys that are awful. Sure, some of the top 60 have some warts. I mean, Evan Gattis slept in a cardboard box for three years; he has to have warts. As with all of my 2016 fantasy baseball rankings, my projections are included and where I see tiers starting and stopping. Anyway, here’s the top 60 outfielders for 2016 fantasy baseball:

Happy Saturday everyone. If you’re checking in on our DFS content at this stage of the season you’re doing a couple thing right. First off, you haven’t blown your entire bankroll chasing a million dollar pay day. Nice work! You also haven’t abandoned your baseball buddies to focus all your attention to football players turning each others brains into scrambled eggs every Sunday. Nope, you’re sticking around and watching Chris Coghlan turn Jung-Ho Kang’s knee into spaghetti, which is much more civilized. This is part of the season where the rubber meets the road and I would implore anyone with anything left to play for in any leagues to take a peek at our daily fantasy content. I mentioned this very thing all the way back in April with my second DFS article. DFS and your H2H and/or roto team can form a nice little symbiotic relationship this time of year. If you’re in the midst of a heated H2H semi-final match-up and and a little behind your opponent, for example, you could look at adding one of the lower-priced options mentioned here as they’re likely available in your league. H2H points leagues and daily fantasy are essentially cousins and we’re looking for the same things: points. A low-priced, high-upside play is great for DFS but could also help you win a H2H matchup. Smell what I’m stepping in? Big Magoo just touched on the importance of batty calls this time of year. Let’s say you’re a couple HRs back in your roto league and you’re looking for any and all power you can get your hands on. Well, look through our daily picks and see if one of our low-priced calls such as Wilin Rosario might be available in your league. Again, we’re all looking for the same thing here. So, come with me past the jump and let’s look for some players to a) win you some DFS money today and b) win you that virtual trophy to set up on your virtual mantle.

Don’t be judging my title. I’m always late to the topical title party. I’m lazy! I haven’t seen Straight Outta Compton because I refuse to pay for overpriced tickets to movies that have nothing visually cool to offer. Seeing the clips and Grey talking it up and being in the same room as Cube has made me reflect… When that album broke, I was in the 8th grade and it was the biggest game changer for us since the Beastie Boys and RUN DMC (I group them together because it felt like it was around the same time). I wasn’t a huge hip-hop head, but I had friends that listened to nothing but street poets. Then came NWA and Eazy-E (I say them separately because Eazy’s album dropped a month after Straight Outta Compton and was treated like a companion piece). It was impossible to own one and not the other. Now, I bring this up because this movie reminds me of the first time I heard Eazy Duz It. I was coming back from Carpenteria (its just south of Santa Barbara) with my good buddy and his mom. He asked her if we could play his new tape on the way home. She, being the very open minded lady she was, obliged and sat through that whole album. Damn, I don’t miss my buddy since he turned into a bitch ass when we got older, but his mom was the baddest mom I knew. From Boyz N’ Tha Hood to Eazy-er Said Than Dunn, we would bump this almost as much as SOC. Hey, we were from L.A., it was great to get someone changing the game from our backyard. Now, you might be asking yourself what this has to do with this weeks creeper. Nothing, I just felt like waxing about NWA.

Pacific Northwest siiiiide! Ouch! My fingers aren’t limber enough for a PNW gang sign. Gonna have to start that Phalanges yoga I’ve been meaning to do…but hey, that’s my problem. Wanna know what else my problem is? Bad beer. I’m a beer snob, proud of it. The history of drinking bad beer started when the US government put the smack down on home brewing. You know, that whole ‘prohibition’ thing that went over so well. Take note, War on Drugs! But my point is, don’t bring your watered down swill up north here, we’re doing just fine with our micro brews, thanks. With all that said, in comes the Colorado Rockies to Safeco Field. Yeah, the Rockies have played like their stadium name this year: bland, tasteless and lacking substance. This not so perfect analogy is a great way to look at the Rockies as a whole, especially when you take them out of their friendly Coors confines and throw in a lefty starter to boot. The numbers ain’t pretty, folks. The Rockies are bottom of the wRC+ barrel against lefties on the year at 66 and the next closest team – the White Sox – ain’t even close at 75. Factor in the 23% K rate and you’ve got one good reason to start Roenis Elias today. The other? Those road stats, bro. Rockies are barely 2nd worst carrying a 79 wRC+ – just ahead of the Twins wRC+ of 78 – while K’ing 23.9% of the time. All this lines up just fine for starting Elias in the friendly confines of Safeco. Starting opposite Yohan Flande, Elias not only has a great chance for high K potential but also the win and maybe a beer shower afterwards…ok, I lied, I don’t mind Coors for once. No IPA baths needed, break out that crappy six-pack! And then finish your night with a tasty cold one when you’re done. But enough about me not so silently judging you, let’s move on. Here’s my Chipotle Ale hot takes for this Saturday DK slate…

Last weekend I wanted to go see Action Bronson when he performed at the Shrine Auditorium in LA. I was feeling my usual cheap self, so I hit up some of the homies in the lighting game to see if anyone was working the show. Well, they weren’t, and I didn’t go. So bummed I couldn’t use the connects to get a pass into the show. That group of friends have been good guys to know, and if they are working an event they can sometimes get a few cats access. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those guys always looking for a freebie, but it’s nice to have a guy. You know that guy, the one who can score you the primo stuff, get you in contact with the right people, get your car smogged (California BS) because it’s customized like a mother f***er, or help you out of a bad spot. The last one is never advisable, because then you owe them a favor and that’s not the kinda favor you want to owe them. To go along with the theme of the title, I hope I’m your Creeper guy, your go to creeper caller. This week I’m the guy telling you to add the Guy(er) to be your guy… for the coming week. Okay, enough about guys, this is starting to get weird… let’s get to creepin’.

Hashtag, oh em gee. Hashtag, my hashtag is an honors student. Hashtag, back again, check it to wreck it, let’s begin. Corey Seager was called up. I just got goosepimplies on the butterflies that are in my stomach. I just can’t. *puts handkerchief to forehead, falls back and Giancarlo catches me, wakes to Giancarlo holding me, faints again and every time I reawaken and see Giancarlo, I faint once more* I just had a fainting fit thinking about Seager. Okay, now that we got the histrionics out of our systems. What’s the best Seager does this year? A few homers, a few steals and marries your sister? What’s the worst? Nothing. Of course, I’d pick him up in all leagues. I’m not goddamn goofy. I just wouldn’t hold out hope that he’s going to do anything that incredible this year. For the very short-term, Seager will fill in for Jose Peraza who is out with a sore hamstring. Yesterday, Seager hit eighth going 2-for-4 with 2 runs, 2 RBIs. When Peraza returns, Seager will play a few games a week, and maybe hint at the insane ability he possess, but saving the bulk of his wonderful until next year. Remember, Mike Trout did nothing in his first trip through the majors. Clayton Kershaw looked awful in his first trip through the majors. Right now, Buxton looks awful, and he will be great. Seager can go 5-for-35 with 20 Ks in September and it means nothing. Sorry to sober up your rookie nookie. You were wet-kissing your fantasy team and it was weird. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball: